Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt

Originally aired on April 14, 2023

SCOTUS Reinforces FLSA Overtime Requirements and Exemptions Can an employee earning over $200,000 a year still be eligible for overtime pay? It turns out, yes. On February 23, 2023, in Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, No. 21-984 (Helix), the United States Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, rejected an employer’s efforts to avoid paying overtime to such a highly compensated employee, even though he performed duties that otherwise would exempt him from overtime payment requirements, on the basis that his daily pay rate did not satisfy the letter of the “salary basis test” required by the implementing regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This decision serves as a stark reminder to employers that high compensation and exempt-level duties do not automatically make an employee a salaried exempt employee, and that the FLSA can have rigid, technical requirements that, unless carefully complied with, may subject employers to large back-pay liabilities. This webinar will address the background of the Helix case, including the general classification standards for exempt versus non-exempt employees under the FLSA; the Court’s reasoning in Helix; and the scope of the Helix ruling’s impact, including on the new proposed rules that the Department of Labor is expected to release in May 2023. Watch the recording.